So here's the background;
Darfur is a small region located on the western half of Sudan (north-western Africa). Darfur is, and has been in a state of humanitarian crisis for quite some time now.
The two sides in the conflict beginning in Feb. of 2003 are;
1) The Sudanese military and Janjaweed (a militia group comprised of mainly nomads)
2) A variety of rebal forces, most notably the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement
The Sudanese gov. has consistently denied any involvement in the "genocide" and providing aid to Janjaweed. However despite the fact that they maintain their innocence, they infact have provided money and such to the militia and hav even been reported to take part in several attacks on tribes in which have been known to support the other side (side 2).
In the last few decades the region has experienced horrific drought. Because of this, the nomads have been traveling further and further south in search for water for their livestock. The southern parts of Darfur have been known to be populated by farming families of non-Arab decent.
In Feb. 2003 the Sudanese gov. saw a rebellion of many rebal groups, accusing the gov. of oppressing non-Arabs in favour for Arabs and neglecting the region of Darfur in their time of drought. The gov. responded by mounting a campaign supporting ground attacks by Janjaweed. Many human rights violation accusations stemmed from this, including; mass killings, looting, systematic rape of non-Arabs burning of villages. Tens of thousands were forced to flee their homeland to refugee camps in the neighboring county of Chad.
The conflict first came to international light in late 2003 due to advocacy groups like Amnesty International. Since then media coverage has been, undoubtedly, incomplete due to the fact that Sudan began supressing gruesome facts by practices such as killing witnesses, tampering with mass graves, obstructing/detaining/and killing many newspaper reporters and other such dirty tactics. The Sudan gov. has been able to hush and obscure many of the happenings.
In Sept. of 04 the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1564. This called for an assessment of the situation in Darfur. In Jan. 2005 the UN released a nearly 200 page report that acknowledged mass killing, rapes and other violations of human rights, however concluded with they could not label it as genocide because "genocidal intent appears to be missing". However the US gov. and many advocacy groups refer to the conflict as a genocide.
The world began to see a constantly worsening condition in Darfur, and in late Aug 2006, the UN approved Resolution 1706, which called for UN peacekeeping troops (UNAMID). Sudan reacted badly, announcing they would view any UN troops with the hostility delivered to foreign invaders. The following day saw a majour offensive action launched in the region by the Sudanese Military.
In March of 2007 the UN called for immediate action to protect civilians in Darfur due to "gross violations" on the Sudanese gov's. behalf, however not much amounted from this call for action.
A death count has been impossible to be accurately assessed due to resistance and obstacles from the Sudan gov. However estimates have ranged from a hugely underestimated and criticized 70,000 to 400,000 people (estimated by the UN in Sept. 06) Later in 2008 the UN disclose that they may have underestimated the numbers by at least 50%.
Recently the violence has poured over into neighboring countries of Chad and Central African Republic.
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Anyways this articalish thing was just written to raise awareness...
Please please take some interest in the world. People are dying in Palestine/Israel..Iraq..Northern Ireland...Burundi, Somalia, Aceh, etc etc. No bombs blow up in our window and machine-guns dont scream day in and day out. Those kinda things happen in Iraq and Darfur. So far away so it "wont affect us" and "doesnt matter". Well I dont think its true. It DOES affect us, and it DOES matter. Those people dying over in Darfur are just as much our brothers and sisters as the people dying here in MN . Maybe u cant do anything, but these people deserve ur attention..atleast know whats going on.
1) The Sudanese military and Janjaweed (a militia group comprised of mainly nomads)
2) A variety of rebal forces, most notably the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement
The Sudanese gov. has consistently denied any involvement in the "genocide" and providing aid to Janjaweed. However despite the fact that they maintain their innocence, they infact have provided money and such to the militia and hav even been reported to take part in several attacks on tribes in which have been known to support the other side (side 2).
In the last few decades the region has experienced horrific drought. Because of this, the nomads have been traveling further and further south in search for water for their livestock. The southern parts of Darfur have been known to be populated by farming families of non-Arab decent.
In Feb. 2003 the Sudanese gov. saw a rebellion of many rebal groups, accusing the gov. of oppressing non-Arabs in favour for Arabs and neglecting the region of Darfur in their time of drought. The gov. responded by mounting a campaign supporting ground attacks by Janjaweed. Many human rights violation accusations stemmed from this, including; mass killings, looting, systematic rape of non-Arabs burning of villages. Tens of thousands were forced to flee their homeland to refugee camps in the neighboring county of Chad.
The conflict first came to international light in late 2003 due to advocacy groups like Amnesty International. Since then media coverage has been, undoubtedly, incomplete due to the fact that Sudan began supressing gruesome facts by practices such as killing witnesses, tampering with mass graves, obstructing/detaining/and killing many newspaper reporters and other such dirty tactics. The Sudan gov. has been able to hush and obscure many of the happenings.
In Sept. of 04 the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1564. This called for an assessment of the situation in Darfur. In Jan. 2005 the UN released a nearly 200 page report that acknowledged mass killing, rapes and other violations of human rights, however concluded with they could not label it as genocide because "genocidal intent appears to be missing". However the US gov. and many advocacy groups refer to the conflict as a genocide.
The world began to see a constantly worsening condition in Darfur, and in late Aug 2006, the UN approved Resolution 1706, which called for UN peacekeeping troops (UNAMID). Sudan reacted badly, announcing they would view any UN troops with the hostility delivered to foreign invaders. The following day saw a majour offensive action launched in the region by the Sudanese Military.
In March of 2007 the UN called for immediate action to protect civilians in Darfur due to "gross violations" on the Sudanese gov's. behalf, however not much amounted from this call for action.
A death count has been impossible to be accurately assessed due to resistance and obstacles from the Sudan gov. However estimates have ranged from a hugely underestimated and criticized 70,000 to 400,000 people (estimated by the UN in Sept. 06) Later in 2008 the UN disclose that they may have underestimated the numbers by at least 50%.
Recently the violence has poured over into neighboring countries of Chad and Central African Republic.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Anyways this articalish thing was just written to raise awareness...
Please please take some interest in the world. People are dying in Palestine/Israel..Iraq..Northern Ireland...Burundi, Somalia, Aceh, etc etc. No bombs blow up in our window and machine-guns dont scream day in and day out. Those kinda things happen in Iraq and Darfur. So far away so it "wont affect us" and "doesnt matter". Well I dont think its true. It DOES affect us, and it DOES matter. Those people dying over in Darfur are just as much our brothers and sisters as the people dying here in MN . Maybe u cant do anything, but these people deserve ur attention..atleast know whats going on.
